Barrel-recoil gun having a fuse-setting machine



Jan. 20, 1931. H. SCHULER ET AL 8 ,77

BARREL RECOIL GUN HAVING A FUSE SETTING CHINE Filed April 21, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l illal...

I 7 li Jan. 20, 1931. H. SCHULER ETAL 1,739,779

BARREL RECOIL GUN HAVING A FUSE SETTING CHINE Filed April 21. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet z Patented Jan. 2%, 1931 U lTE PATENT HERMANN SGHULER AND ANTON GIETMANN, 0F DUSSELDORF, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS TO RHEINISCEE METALLWAAREN- UND MASCHINENFABRIK, 0F DUSSELDORF- DERENDORF, GERMANY, A CORPORATION OF GERMANY V Application filed A rum, 1930, Serial No. 446,081, and a German August as, 1927.

Barrel recoil guns having a fuse setting machine are known the driving mechanism for setting the fuse of which is driven by a power accumulator which is loaded by the kinetic energy of the gun barrel on firing. In these guns, springs serve as power accumulator which are tensioned during a portion of the recoil of the barrel by a catch provided at the barrel, may extend again independently of the further movement of the barrel and may then operate the fuse setting machine to set the fuse of a projectile by means of a rack engaging with a'toothed wheel, coupled to the drive of the fuse setting machine during the rotation in one direction only.

In the known devices, the power accumulators are loaded directly by the mass of the recoiling barrel. The extremely high forces of acceleration during the first part of the recoil of the barrel thereby unabatedly act, by means of the rigid intermediate gear, upon the power accumulator which considerably reduces the duration of life of these parts. Moreover, it is impossible to regulate the loading and discharging of the power accumulator and its supply of power to the fuse setting machine according to time and height of power. To maintain the connection between the barrel and the power accumulator for the drive of the fuse setting machine by means of the known rigid transfer of power, it is necessary to provide the power accumulator and the fuse setting machine at the cradle of the barrel, so that, during elevations of the barrel, the cup-shaped setting bodies change their position and occupy at high elevations a position which makes it ditficult to introduce a projectile.

The object of the present invention is to obviate these draw-backs by connecting the power accumulator for the drive of the fuse setting machine with the barrel by an intermediate gear which elastically transfers the kinetic energy of the barrel to the fuse setting machine. This intermediate gear may be of a purely mechanical construction having springs and which may, if desired, be provided with an additional gear, particularly reducing the barrel acceleration and having a ratio of gear which changes at running ofi. Preferably, however, the gear is formed as a pneumatic or pneumatic-hydraulic gear by tensioning the power carrier of the power accumulator, for instance a coiled spring, by compressed air or displace-d liquid froman air compressor driven by the movements of the barrel. By simultaneously constructing the power accumulator for the drive of the fuse setting machine according to the invention as power accumulator of compressed air, it is possible to easily regulate the loading of the power accumulator and its supply of power to the fuse setting machine according to time and to height of power, so that, at the one hand, the eifect of the ununiform barrel accelerations upon the power accumulator is obviated and the latter is loaded not by shocks or impulses but uniformly and, at the other hand, the driving mechanism of the fuse setting machine which is bound to definite numbers of rev olutions and to definite periods is, as desired, moved smoothly and free of shocks. Moreover, the fuse setting machine together with its power accumulator for the drive are connected to fixed portions of the gun not palticipa-ting in the elevation movements of the barrel and the power accumulator is connected to the barrel by means of a flexible gear.

In the accompanying drawings, several constructions of devices according to the invention are shown by way of example.

Fig. 1 shows a compressed air power accumulator for driving the fuse setting machine with a pneumatic-elastic connecting gear to the barrel of the gun; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the device mounted upon the gun seen from above and drawn at a smaller scale; Fig. 3 shows in section the connecting gear between the compressed air power accumulator and the barrel of the gun, formed as a pneumatic-hydraulic gear with energy tapping from the buffing and running out device of the barrel comprising a compressed air container; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a further modification of the power accumulator for the drive of the fuse setting machine,

' lator c for driving the fuse setting machine 6 parts come out of engagement.

by means of compressed air. The fuse setting machine 6, the power accumulator c for drivm the setting machine Z; and the drum (Z are provided atthe carriage a which does not participate in the elevation movements of the barrel. During the recoil of the barrel, the drum (Z 1s rotated by a cable hehcally wound around the drum and fixed to the barrel of the gun. Under the action of a torsion spring, mounted within the drum casing, the drum is, during the forward movement of the barrel rotated in the opposite direction and thereby the cable d is wound again around the drum (Z. On account of the conical construction of the drum (Z, the barrel accelerata compensated state, to the intermediate gear connecting the power accumulator c tothe drum d. The intermediate gear between the drum and the power accumulator is so constructed that it couples the power ac umulator to the drum and loads same for a por tion of the barrel recoil only, but remains without influence upon the power accumulator during therest' of the recoil of the barrel. The intermediate gear may, for example, comprise a shaft (Z coupled to the drum d, a worm gear (Z (Z and a lever d keyed to the shaft 6Z5 of the worm wheel. A tongue (l ,-mountedupon the pin (Z, of the lever (Z so as to be capable of oscillating in one direction, is, during the rotation of the drum (Z at the recoil of the barrel, moved from an original or exit position A into an end position B and shifts, during a portion of this movement, a rack 0 of the power accumulator 0. During the forward move ment of the barrel and the hereby resulting oscillation of the lever (Z in the other direction, the tongue (Z freely slides beneath the rack 0 back into the original or'exit position A. Atthe point at which the tongue (Z presses upon the rack 0 a roller 0 is resiliently mounted on the raclrc which clastically absorbs the impulses of the tongue (Z Hereby the rack 0 is, in the middle portion of the recoil ofthe barrel, displaced with gradually increasing acceleration towards theright, whereby the roller 0: rolls upon the end surface of the tongue d until ,both During the further recoil and forward movement of the barrel, the power accumulator c is, therefore, disengaged from the barrel.

The power accumulator 0 comprises compressor space or chamber 0 which is partly filled with liquid but which for its greatest part contains air. The compression chamber 0 is, by means of an opening 0,, of relatively great cross section, connected to a chamber 0 containing liquid. Movably arranged in the liquid chamber 0 is a piston 0 the piston rod 0 of which extends through a stuffing box of the cylinder cover and is rigidly connected to the rack 0 In the state of rest of the power accumulator, the compressed air chamber 0;, and itsopening 0,, are, by means of a spring loaded valve 0 closed against the liquid column 0 in front of the piston 0 The two chambers 0 and 0 are then connected by means of a channel 0 only which maybe throttled by a regulating member and has, with regard to the opening 0 a very small cross section.

By the movement of the rack 0 resulting during avportion of the barrel recoil by means of the drum d and. the lever d the compressor piston 0 which is also moved'presses the liquid in front of it througlrthe opening 0 into the compressed air chamber 0 there by pushing back the valve 0 The resultof this is, that the air is compressed and energy is stored. As soon as during the recoil of the barrel the tongue 5Z of the lever Z downwardly slides off the roller 0 of the rack 0 and therefore the piston 0 comes to rest, the non-return valve 0 is closed and the two chambers 0 and 0 communicate by the small adjustable bore 0 only. The power accumulator now may discharge. The compressed air presses the liquid from the chamber'c by way of thebore 0 back to the chamber c and the piston 0 and the rack 0 are moved rearwardlyto the left. The rack 0 engages a toothed wheel 0 coupled to the driving gear 6 b b 6,, and b 6 of the fuse setting machine in such a manner, that it transfers to the drivinggear of the fuse setting machine the rotation in one direction, i. e. in a counter-clockwise direction, only'which rotation is imparted to the toothed wheel 0 by the power accumulator during delivery of power and movement. During the movement of the rack 0 to the right for loading the power accumulator, the toothed wheel 0 runs idle. If the power accumulator 0 discharges, the fuse setting machine is started and its setting bodies, serving to setthe fuse','-are rotated in a well known manner. The period of discharge and the power delivery of the power ahcumulator 0 may be regulated by the throttling member arranged in the bore 0 In the modification shown in Figure 3, the

buffing and running out device 6 of the barrel is used as elastic element in the connecting gear between the barrel and the power accumulator. In this arrangement, a portion of the energy stored in'the bufling and running out device 6 during the recoil of the barrel is tapped to load the above described power accumulator c. The buffing and running out device 6 comprises, asis well known, a cylinder filled with liquid which, during the recoil of the barrel, is, by means of a piston, displaced into a compressed air container. For example, a portion of the liquid displaced in the cylinder is passed behind the piston 0 of the power accumulator c by means of aflexible hose or, when rigid pipes f are used, by way of the trunnion and an interconnected throttling member g. The piston 0 is thereby shifted and the liquid in the chamber 0 in front of the piston is pressed into the compressed air chamber 0 so that the power accumulator is loaded. If the barrel is completely or nearly completely moved forwardly, the discharge of the power accumulator c and the drive of the fuse setting machine are caused by the fact, that, by the compressed air in the compressed air chamber 0 the displaced liquid is pressed back again through the adjustable bore 0 into the chamber 0 whereby the liquid in front of the piston 0 is pressed back into the bufing and running out device 6.

As the pressures prevailing in the buffing and running out cylinder 6 at the end of the recoil and at the beginning of the forward movement of the barrel are much higher than necessary for loading the power accumulator 0, it is, by regulatin at y the supply of liquid from the cylinder 6 to the power accumulator 0, possible to so prolong the loading period of the power accumulator, that the loading is continued, after the completion of the recoil of the barrel, during the forward movement of the latter. An unfavorable effect of the ununiform barrel movements upon the power accumulator is thereby impossible and instead of being loaded by impulses, the power accumulator is nearly uniformly loaded. lVith this device also the discharge of the power accumulator occurs independently of the barrel movement.

In the construction shown in Figure l, a coiled spring 7L arranged in front of the piston 0,, serves as power carrier in the power accumulator. This spring h is tensioned by energy tapped from the buffing and running out cylinder by the fact, that, as described above, the liquid of the buffing and running out cylinder is, during the recoil of the barrel, passed, by way of a throttling member 9 in the pipe f and a non-return valve 2', behind the piston 0 During the discharge of the power accumulator under release of the spring It the liquid is returned to the buffing and running out cylinder by way of a small channel in which a throttling member is arranged. The spring 72. is, therefore, not suddenly released but with regard to velocity and period of time in an adjustable ratio adapted to the operation of the fuse setting machine.

What we claim is:

l. A recoil barrel gun having a fuse setting machine, comprising in combination a driving mechanism for setting a fuse, a power accumulator loaded by the kinetic energy of the gun barrel and serving to operate said driving mechanism and a gear connecting said power accumulator to said gun barrel, said gear being adapted to elastically transfer the kinetic energy of said'barrel to said power accumulator and to be adjusted according to time and height of power.

2. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which said connecting gear between said barrel and said power accumulator for the drive of said fuse setting machine comprises a transmission gear, for instance a cable drive with a conical winding drum, adapted-to reduce the barrel accelerations and having a transmission ratio which varies during running off.

3. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic connecting gear is provided between said gun barrel and said power accumulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, forinstance a coiled spring, being tensioned by compressed air from an air compressor operated by the barrel movements.

42. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumratio-hydraulic connecting gear is provided between said gun barrel and said power accun'iulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, for instance a coiled spring, bein tensioned by compressed air from an air compressor operated by the barrel movements.

5. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic connecting gear is pro vided between said gun barrel and said power accumulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, for instance a coiled spring, being tensioned by displaced liquid from an air compressor operated by the barrel movements.

6. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic-hydraulic connecting gear is provided between said gun barrel and said power accumulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, for instance a coiled spring, being tensioned by displaced liquid from an air compressor operated by the barrel movements.

7 A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic connecting gear is provided between said gun barrel and said power accumulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, for instance a coiled spring, being tensioned by compressed air from the bufling and running out device of said gun barrel.

8. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic-hydraulic connecting gear is provided between said gun barrel and said power accumulator for driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power accumulator, for instance a coiled 7 sprin beinguqtensioned byzco-mpressed air from the buffing and runningout device of said gun barrel, 7

'9. A'recoilbarrel gun according to claim 1 in which a pneumatic connecting gear is provided between said gnn' barrel and said powe accumulatorfor driving said fuse setting machine, the power carrier of said power, accumulatonfor instance-a coiled spring, being tensioned by displaced liquid from the buffing and running out device of said gun barrel.

10. A-recoil barrel gun according to claim l in which athrottling member is provided in an admission channel leading "from an air compressor, mounted on said gun barrel, to said power accumulator of said fuse setting machine and a second throttling member is provided in a return channel from said power accumulator to said air compressor said throttling members allowing a regulation of the loading and discharging of said power accumulator according to time and to reception of power as well as delivery of power to said fuse setting machine.

11. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which the said power accumulator for the drive of said fuse setting machine is formed as a compressed air power accumulator having a liquid filled displacer cylinder and a niston reci rocat'in in same. the li uid from .L 2:

said cylinder being, for the purpose of loading said power accumulator, pressed through a large opening into a compressed air container in which, for the purpose of delivering power to said fuse setting machine, said displaced liquid is, under the action of the compressed air, pressed back again through a small opening adapted to be throttled.

12. A recoil barrel gun according to claim 1 in which said fuse setting machine and said power accumulator for operating said machine are mounted at fixed parts of the gun, not participating in the elevation movements of said barrel, said power accumulator being i connected to said barrel by a flexible gear adapted to transmit power and movement.

In testimony whereof we have attired our signatures. s

HERMANN 'SCHULTIR. ANTON GIETMANN. 

